This blows my mind. Video games as an official sport? With prize money and endorsment deals?
Yep. The MLG Pro Circuit is here. And what is more, I have helped with this perversion. Yes, I say perversion. IT'S VIDEO GAMES PEOPLE! But it pays the bills.
Anyway... for the last few days, and a few weeks ago for a few days, I worked for the USA Network show that is mentioned as being in the works. It is no longer in the works, it is happening. It will be interesting to see how it ends up. We had to get through something like 120 hours of tape for just one event.
It is strangely funny actually. These kids are extremely serious about this. They "train". Some have coaches. They analyze the game like they are baseball players. They talk about inherent talent. Most, if not all, of those working on the show think it is hilarious.
And people come watch this stuff! There will be an event in Chicago in a few weeks. Attendance has not been huge, but it is getting higher and higher, and with a show, this could become a very big deal.
So... don't tell your kids that they can't make money playing video games. Now they can. Last years prize was $250,00, and, at this point, the prize for 2006 Champion will be $1,000,000. Yes, $1 Million.
The world will end soon.
4 comments:
So... why do you call it a "perversion"? What exactly is perverted about playing video games (with the exception of the Leisure Suit Larry series)? And how is it sillier than pro baseball, pro bowling, pro darts, pro chess, or pro scrabble?
Well... they are all pretty silly:) Paying people lots of money to play any game is silly:) I have said that many times!
I think I react to this stronger because this is a hightened sillyness. This is kids staring at a TV and moving their fingers, which is pretty different from baseball or basketball or soccer which are physical and build the body.
But no different from chess or scrabble:) Those at least build brain activity.
Studies have shown that video games actually don't build the brain at all, they may degrade it somewhat. Learning the game showed hightened activity, but playing showed only normal.
So, unlike chess it doesn't build the brain, and unlike other physical sports it doesn't build the body, so there is no definite benefit to playing video games.
Which is the difference and the basis for thinking it is alittle wierd I guess.:)
Any game a kid can play and just have fun with, an adult can ruin with rules, which is another reason to hate this.
It isn't fun anymore, it is a job. Which is the reason college sports are more fun to watch, and the World Cup (which is also a prestige thing) is more fun to watch than pro sports.
Actually, some of the recent studies I had seen showed playing video games does increase learning ability, helps adults maintain their ability to retain knowledge later in life, and definitely builds eye-hand coordination.
Still, again, I don't see this as any sillier than other pro games, especially board games.
The biggest problem here, though, is the possibility of back doors and hacks for games. It is hard to ensure a level playing field.
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